


Better Late Than Never

by Madiedoodle



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky needs a hug, M/M, Steve is old, and Bucky doesn't age, and so does steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:21:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5195441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madiedoodle/pseuds/Madiedoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Okay that scene with old Peggy and Regular Steve Imagine that with Bucky and Old Steve</p>
<p>Bucky has many regrets in his life, and staying away from Steve for so long is one of them. And as he speaks to Steve again, it is to an old and fragile man, not the young healthy Steve he had left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Late Than Never

**Author's Note:**

> More tumblr prompts! I liked this wrong, and I had more ideas on how to fill the prompt so I might write them up.

He could hear a familiar rattling breathe, the wheezing and rasping that had haunted his memories from time to time, a sound that he had never really missed but did cause a sense of nostalgia. He had hoped to never hear that sound again, that Steve would be healthy forever, that he could just keep breathing and living, but he knew that wasn’t a realistic hope.

He hadn’t understood how much it would hurt to see Steve like that until it happened, and he almost escaped back through the door without speaking to him. It had been years since he had seen Steve, he didn’t know how many years exactly but he knew that it was both too many and not enough. For a long time he had watched Steve from afar, watched as he lived his life, as he continued to save the world even when the world didn’t think he was worth a damn. It had broken Bucky in some way, in a part of his heart that he tried not to think about, to see Steve so alone for that long, but Steve had a way of making friends, and Bucky had known he would be alright. And he had been alright, for years and years Steve had been alright, and that broke Bucky as well, in the parts of his heart that he kept at a distance.

Just it was the rattling breathe that told him to flee, the same breathing drew him in, sparking a desire to comfort Steve that had lay dormant for over a century now, something that they had programmed out of him a long time ago, at least for the most part. But stepping into the room brought it all back, as he saw Steve laying tiny and fragile on the bed, breathe rattling in his old and tired lungs. As Bucky sat down beside the bed, Steve’s eyes opened and a grin broke out on his face, a grin as familiar as the rattling of breathe and the feeling of someone near death.

“I was wondering when you’d be around, you jerk.” Steve said, voice old and warbly but still with the same teasing tone, and Bucky’s breathe caught. Memories, ones that he had recalled long ago, were resurfacing, and it was always overwhelming. He had missed Steve so much in his life, and now here Steve was, old and greying and dying, but still the same as always.

“You know I’m never on time, punk.” he replied automatically, and Steve’s grin widened as he attempted to sit up in the bed. It was an obvious struggle for him, but Bucky knew better than to try and stop him. Steve successfully sat up, hospital gown hanging off his shoulders just like Bucky’s hand me down t-shirts had, and Bucky felt the sudden urge to cry, another thing he had not done in a long time. But Steve chuckled, turning to face Bucky completely, old eyes scrutinizing Bucky from behind glasses that could only be described as spectacles.

“I hate to break it to ya but hundred and fifty years is a bit of a long time to be fashionably late.” he said, and Bucky could feel regret, and regret was something he had experience with in recent years. There were a lot of things he regretted, and staying away from Steve for so long was one of them.

“I was afraid. I thought it would be better for you if I just stayed away. And by the time I got myself figured out, you had your life together. You had friends, you had everything you wanted, and I couldn’t……I couldn’t mess that up for you. By the time I thought about coming back I hadn’t aged a day and you had. I couldn’t……” Bucky said, and Steve put a hand up to stop him, beckoning for him to come closer.

“Bucky Barnes, you’re an absolute moron. I spent the last sixty years looking for you, and you spent the last sixty years hiding from me. Because what, you thought I thought you were a monster? Because you thought I wouldn’t love you anymore? Jesus, Buck, of all the things for you to think of.” Steve said, eyes sad as he stared at Bucky, and Bucky deflated under his gaze.

“I knew you wouldn’t think I was a monster, that was the problem Steve. I knew you’d take me back and that wasn’t fair to you, I couldn’t do that.” he said, voice breaking, watching a Steve who was both different and the same from the Steve he had in his head, frail and tiny but strong and brave, and yet too old and too tired to truly be his Steve.

“I missed you Buck.” Steve said quietly, a tear tracking down his face. “You’re the same as you always were, and even if you weren’t the same I’d still miss you. You said til the end of the line, and you weren’t there for the whole god damn middle part of the line.” he said, and Bucky shook his head, setting his jaw, trying not to break down there.

“I’m sorry Steve.” he whispered, and Steve nodded, laying back down on the bed.

“Good, you’d better be. Now I expect you back on Saturday, I’ve still got a few good years left in me and I sure as hell ain’t spending them in this hell hole for old heroes. You’re gonna bust me out of here.” Steve said, and Bucky laughed, a watery chuckle, taking Steves hand and kissing his knuckles in a gesture of goodbye.

“It’s a date, then.” he said, backing out the door.

“You’d better not be late this time.”Steve called after him, and Bucky smiled, for the first time in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think! And if you have any more prompt ideas, feel free to tell me!


End file.
